


A journey of reliability

by jackshortie



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Chimera Ant Arc, Crimes, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inferiority Complex, Jealousy, Multi, envy - Freeform, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:53:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29783292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackshortie/pseuds/jackshortie
Summary: The longer Kalluto is in the Troupe, the more he finds out about the members, their complications and relationships, while learning to grow as well.
Relationships: Feitan/Phinks (Hunter X Hunter), Feitan/Phinks/Shalnark (Hunter x Hunter), Feitan/Shalnark (Hunter x Hunter), Genei Ryodan | Phantom Troupe & Kalluto Zoldyck, Mooncake - Relationship, Phinks/Shalnark (Hunter x Hunter), Uvogin | Ubogin/Shalnark
Kudos: 18





	A journey of reliability

After having defeated Zazan, it was decided that Feitan Portor was the one to become the temporary leader. Or at least, until Chrollo would come back. While Shalnark and Feitan, both injured, were running away from the boulders that Phinks as throwing, Kalluto was lost in thought. He was struck by how amazing their abilities were. This whole assignment made him realise that he was anything but near their strength. In a way it was disappointing, to know that he would never be able to catch up to them like that, but making an attempt at beating them could also be seen as motivating. Kalluto was only ten after all, so who knows. 

“Kallutoooo-” 

Suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, he saw Shizuku’s hand waving in front of him. “Geez, you coming?” She said, after finally getting his attention. 

“What?” Kalluto replied, but soon enough he realised he had stopped walking and that the rest of the group was a few metres ahead. “Must have been that deep in thought?” He thought as he and Shizuku did a short sprint to catch up to the Troupe. 

“My apologies.” He said after having reached the others. 

“No need for the formality, besides, it happens.” Phinks assured him. It seemed like Feitan and Shalnark were back as well. “Alright, Shalnark, where is Nobunaga? If we have to wait, might as well help him out.” 

“But Phinks, you just said-”

Phinks gave Shalnark a threatening glance, and Shalnark immediately understood. 

He threw his hands in the air, as if surrendering, “Okay fine, I’ll ask.” Shalnark rolled his eyes, not wanting to dodge any more boulders. He typed the question in his phone and put it back into his pocket. It takes ages for Nobunaga to answer, everyone knew that. Even though he sent the initial message only a few minutes ago, they all expected for him to reply to Shalnark’s question in about eight to ten hours. 

“It’s nearing dawn, we probably should find a place to rest.” Shizuku suggested, pointing at the sun that was nearing the horizon. 

Everybody agreed soon enough with some nods and noises. “There’s a nearby town where we could probably find a hotel.” Bonolenov added. 

Feitan looked around. “Good plan. You have directions?” 

Bonolenov pointed forward: “Twelve kilometres forward and we should be good to go.” 

“With this pace we won’t be in time.” Feitan calculated that at their pace right now it would take about two hours to get inside the hotel, though the sun would be completely gone in half an hour. 

“Running competition?” Shalnark said with a smirk. 

Phinks sighed and shook his head, “Not happening. You’re literally injured and Shizuku’s going to trip over my robe.” 

“Well somebody is caring today~” Shalnark teased and in the background Feitan giggled. 

“A normal jog should be good enough.” Shizuku interfered, preventing them from wasting more energy. She turned to Kalluto and raised him an eyebrow, asking if he still had the energy to keep up. He nodded. 

“Okay let us go, then.” Bonolenov finalised the decision and all of them started running. 

Although, it looked like it was more of a sprint. They were fast and swiftly, especially considering they expected to run at this pace for twelve kilometres. This showcased again that Kalluto didn’t match their strengths yet. He figured that at this pace he wouldn’t be able to last seven kilometres, let alone twelve. Figuring this wasn’t a competition, it meant that this was just the bare limit that any member should be able to keep up with. “Just keep up your breathing, c’mon.” Kalluto thought, hoping to encourage himself. 

“Still holding up?” Shalnark said, after about eight kilometres. 

Kalluto tried to suppress his panting, giving an answer, “Mhm.” He lied, but didn’t want to seem this weak compared to the rest.

“Alright, should we pick up the pace then?” 

Kalluto’s eyes widened, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep up anymore. 

“Kidding, but this just proves you aren’t holding up that much. If you want you can ask Phinks to carry you.” Shalnark tried, knowing that Phinks was already too attached to the kid to say no. 

“I would not want to burden you.” Kalluto said, leaving out a deep sigh. 

“You won’t, don’t worry,” Shalnark turned to Phinks, “Phinks! Get over here!” 

Phinks slightly slowed his pace so he reached Shalnark and Kalluto, “Something wrong?” 

“Kalluto’s tired, you don’t mind carrying him, don’t you?” Shalnark said, with a smile. This wasn’t to tease Phinks, but it was out of genuine concern for Kalluto. 

“Phinks you really don’t have-” Kalluto tried, but Phinks already slowed down. 

“Alright, get on.” Kalluto hesitated for a moment, “I’m not letting you tire yourself out completely, don’t worry about it.” He assured him. 

With that Kalluto climbed on top of his back. 

“You good?” He asked, preparing for take off. Once Kalluto nodded, he blasted on at full speed, trying to catch up with the rest of the group. 

“See? No biggie for Phinks.” Shalnark said once Phinks had reached the group again. 

“We should be there in two minutes. There’s the town Bonolenov talked about.” Shizuku pointed at the town, that could even be considered a city looking at the size of it.

Feitan arrived first, without breaking a sweat. The rest of the group was close to finishing at the same time. Kalluto jumped off and Phinks raised his hand for a high five. It took Kalluto a moment to realise what he was supposed to do. 

“Looks like there’s a hotel on the right.” Shalnark said, checking his phone. 

Shizuku took the lead walking through the city. The sun was almost gone and the street lights were on. “Is it this?” Feitan pointed at a small neon sign that said ‘Hotel’. It connected to a pretty big building, about five floors, and it even seemed like it was luxurious.

“Seems like it, good job, Fei.” Shalnark took the initiative and walked in while the rest decided to wait outside. 

Inside it was pretty much empty, except for the service desk right in front of him. He skipped to the desk and tapped the desk twice with his finger. The girl behind the desk looked up, “Hello, what can I do for you?” 

“Hey, do you have a place for six?” He asked, looking around. 

She searched on her computer, “We have rooms for three, two and one.” 

Shalnark thought for a moment, “One room for three and three for one. One night.” Being roommates with Feitan and Phinks, they could share a room easily. He wasn’t sure about what the others would want, but thought they might want privacy. 

“That will be eighty thousand Jenny.” She said. 

Shalnark nodded, it was more than he expected. “Alright, let me get the rest, they have the money.” He turned around and went outside. 

The five others looked up hopefully. 

“They got rooms... eighty thousand Jenny.” Shalnark sighed. 

All of them except Kalluto turned to Feitan. Feitan glanced from side to side before rolling his eyes. 

“You still got energy, right?” Phinks tilted his head. 

“I hate all.” Feitan grunted.  
“We have 20k, how much time do you need?” Shizuku said, flipping through the papers. 

“60k? Minute.” Feitan said, getting ready. 

Shalnark waved, “Good luck!” 

Feitan flew off, full speed. A wave of wind flew over all of them and he was gone before anyone could see him. “Where’s he going?” Kalluto asked.

“Getting money. He’s the fastest one, he can get quick cash grabs inside people’s houses in no time.” Shalnark explained, checking his messages in case Nobunaga gave his location yet. 

As said, within fifty-five seconds Feitan was back. He landed by sliding on his legs and one hand on the floor. He took out of his pocket stacks of cash. “61k, you welcome.” He slammed it in Shalnark’s hands. He chuckled while flipping through it. 

“Alright, let’s go.” He said, reentering the hotel again, “Same order, eighty thousand.” He slammed the money on her desk. She checked the money and put it away, handing over four keys. One blue one and three red ones. He threw the red ones to Bonolenov, Shizuku and Kalluto before running up the stairs. The room numbers lined up, so it seemed like the rooms would be next to each other. 

“What about our rooms?” Phinks looked confused, following Shalnark. 

Shalnark twirled the key around his finger. “We’re roommates, give me one good reason to pay more.” 

Feitan shrugged in agreement, it was an obvious answer. Besides, he didn’t feel like having to go on another money sprint. Once they found all the rooms, they decided to wake each other up at 8 am tomorrow. 

Kalluto immediately dropped himself on the bed. He was exhausted, but his mind seemed too full somehow. Hours were passing as he lay motionless in bed, not being able to sleep. Eventually he gave up and sat up straight, looking around the hotel room. It was a quite simple one, a bed, a bathroom and a balcony. 

A balcony. Kalluto got up, and walked to the two glass doors that led to the balcony. He quietly opened them and went outside. He leaned his arms against the railing and stared forward. 

“Oh hey, Kalluto.” A voice said besides him. He quickly looked at the side to see Shalnark, standing on the balcony next to his, with a gloomy smile.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Kalluto explained and Shalnark shrugged, “Understandable, me neither. What’s on your mind?” He asked, closing the glass doors behind him so that Phinks and Feitan couldn’t overhear the potentially confidential conversation.

Kalluto thought. There was a lot on his mind, he wouldn’t even know what he should and what he even could share. “Phantom Troupe.” That was all he could say with certainty. 

“Oh no, we’re annoying you already!?” Shalnark placed his hand on his heart, pretending to be heartbroken. Kalluto let out a chuckle, “No, the opposite, I think.” 

“Speak your mind.” 

“What if I’m not good enough? What if I never reach the level you guys are at?” Kalluto seemed pretty calm while saying that, but he was nervously tapping his fingers against the railing.

“Kalluto, in my opinion, for being ten years old? You’re doing great, don’t let yourself or anyone else tell you that. Besides, there’s no point in comparing ourselves to other members…” It was the way that Shalnark said that last sentence made it off putting. 

“So, who do you compare yourself to?” Kalluto said, being able to read between the lines. Shalnark pointed behind him, at the glass doors. “Those two idiots,” he sighed, deeply, looked down and gathered courage for himself. He hadn’t spoken with anyone about this, but he had to get it out of his system. “During my solo fight, I had to use auto-pilot, which can be considered… my last resort. I got injured and used up my best move, but not even fighting the strongest. I would have died within seconds if I would’ve fought Zazan. Phinks putting out those victims of their suffering was sheer talent too. The three of us... we’re always together, we fight and live together… but it feels like I’m the weakest link, especially since the whole thing with Uvo, which made me an emotional wreck sometimes.

Kalluto hadn’t heard much about Uvogin, considering it was a sensitive subject within the troupe, but he could tell that Uvogin and Shalnark were the closest. 

“I don’t blame you. I’ve never seen anyone as strong as them. Although… my father and grandfather probably are.” It was obvious Kalluto admired the other members, maybe even idolised. 

Shalnark crossed his arms and laid them down on the railing, placing his head in between. “They really are amazing, aren’t they?” He said, with a loving laugh, maybe even a blush. It was hard to tell in the middle of the night, but the tone he used made it sound like a form of romantic admiration for Feitan and Phinks. 

“Shalnark, you’re pretty amazing too.” Kalluto said, with a kind and friendly smile. 

“Thank you, Kalluto. That means a lot. Now… go try and sleep again, we have to be well and awake in four hours.” He said, waving his hand as if telling Kalluto to get back inside.

“Since when do you take the role of being my mom?” Kalluto joked, getting more comfortable being less polite to Shalnark.

Shalnark looked offended, “Do you want me to act as your mom?” 

“Oh god no, I’ll go inside.” Kalluto hurried inside, laughing. 

“Sleep well!” He said before the door closed. Shalnark stayed on his balcony and stared through the glass windows at his two roommates. 

Four hours later, five minutes before eight am, Shalnark crawled back into bed. This way he could pretend he had slept at all. Five minutes later there was knocking on the door that woke Phinks up. He pushed the sleeping Feitan off of him and opened the door. 

Shizuku, Bonolenov and Kalluto were all standing in front of their door, dressed and ready to leave. “Morning, sleepyhead. Geez, I thought we said we’re leaving at eight am.” Shizuku said, peeking inside to see none of them were ready.

“Yeah yeah I know, I’ll wake up Shalnark.” Phinks grunted, he wasn’t a morning person, that much was obvious. 

“No need to, I’m up.” Shalnark said, pretending to just have woken up. Kalluto could tell from his eyebags that he didn’t sleep after their talk on the balcony, but decided to keep it between them. 

“So, what about Feitan?” Kalluto asked, realising that no one wanted to take the initiative. 

Shalnark and Phinks exchanged scared looks. “We’ll wait for him to wake up.” They both said in sync. 

“Wait, why? Just wake him up?” Shizuku said, annoyed. 

Shalnark forced an awkward smile. “If you want to wake him, be my guest.” He put his arms out as if he was presenting the sleeping Feitan. Feitan’s face was mostly covered by the blanket; it looked as if he was curled up underneath. 

“Shalnark. Phinks. You’re acting weird. What happens when I wake up Feitan?” Shizuku put her hands on her hips, questioning the boys’s behaviour. 

“Figure it out for yourself.” Phinks shrugged and started grabbing his stuff to prepare departure. 

Kalluto moved past the others into the room and walked to the bed where Feitan lied down. “Feitan, we got to go, hurry up.” He said fearless while pulling the blanket away from him. Phinks and Shalnark watched with worry as they saw Feitan trying to pull the blanket back towards him. 

“Feitan, c’mon.” Kalluto said, pulling harder. Eventually Feitan’s hand slipped and he let go of the blanket. His eyes opened slowly and sat up straight after that. He looked around the room with tired eyes, but somehow he had a murderous look on his face. 

“Who fucking woke up me?” There was anger in his tone, a lot of it. However, Kalluto was brave, and didn’t fear him. That was probably because Kalluto didn’t know what anger Feitan could unleash when woken up involuntarily. 

“I did. We have to leave.” Kalluto said and walked away again. The rest of the Troupe watched in fear as Feitan's bloodlust eyes followed Kalluto as he walked out of the room. He grunted angrily and got out of bed. Once Kalluto was out of sight, Feitan threw a middle finger towards where he left. 

“Feitan!” They all said in sync, getting mad at his rude behaviour towards Kalluto. 

Feitan rolled his eyes and started grabbing his stuff as well. “Should not woke me up.” Within a few minutes they were all outside the hotel again. 

During the all-nighter Shalnark had pulled, he had received Nobunaga’s location. “We have to go to an airport, no way we can go by car with this distance.” 

“We should get a car from here to get to the airport at least.” Bonolenov suggested. 

“Phinks drives.” Shalnark said quickly.

Phinks felt attacked by the way Shalnark said it, “Why me?!” Phinks felt sore from the battle as well, and figuring it would be a pretty long ride to the airport, he didn’t feel like it.

“Because I will fall asleep within the next five hours, you don’t want me behind the wheel right now.” Is what he wanted to say, but kept it to himself.

“Because no one else has a driving license!” He eventually said. Phinks and Shalnark were the only ones who knew how to ride out of everyone that was here right now. 

“You didn’t do shit during the ant battle, you do it!” Phinks said, unaware of hitting a sensitive spot.

Shalnark closed his eyes, calming himself down before he could lash out. “Fine. Guess I’ll walk.” He said and walked away. 

“Shal c’mon! Why so angry all of the sudden?” Phinks chased him and nudged him with his elbow. Shalnark stopped and turned around, “What?” 

It was then that Phinks noticed the eyebags under Shalnark’s eyes. Phinks dropped to concern, “Hey, are you okay?” 

“I feel perfectly fine.” He said, sarcastically. 

Phinks rolled his eyes, “Okay fine I’ll drive, but what’s going on?” 

Shalnark rejected his question by shaking his head and walking back. 

Kalluto saw the conversation happening and wished he could help, or explain it, but he also knew that it was up to Shalnark what to tell and what not. It was between them after all. 

Once they stole a mini bus that fit all of them in it Phinks started up the motor and drove towards the airport. Shalnark sat next to him in the front to give him directions. It was a fairly quiet busride, probably because of the tension just now. Kalluto claimed a seat next to the window so he could just stare outside, eventually falling asleep due to the lack of it last night. 

Five hours later he was woken up and they had arrived at the airport.


End file.
